WASHINGTON—The House Commerce Committee late Wednesday voted to streamline the process that the Federal Communications Commission uses to approve multi-mode devices.
“All we are trying to do is kick in a quicker process so that we don’t have to wait 64 days to get approval for multi-mode devices,” said Rep. John Shimkus (R-Ill.), the sponsor of the amendment. “We are asking FCC to streamline the process. It doesn’t specify the process.”
The streamlining amendment was adopted with no debate at the end of the House Commerce Committee’s consideration of a telecommunications-reform bill.
Radio-frequency devices are required to be certified to ensure they meet technical standards established by the FCC. New technologies must undergo commission certification, but, according to the FCC’s web site, cell phones and other devices can be certified by telecommunications certification bodies—outside groups authorized by the agency to conduct the testing necessary for certification.
Shimkus’ amendment was the next-to-last to be considered at the all-day meeting. Consideration of the Communications Opportunity, Promotion and Efficiency Act was generally a rehash of the House telecommunications subcommittee mark up April 5. The COPE Act is a watered-down telecom-reform bill focusing on establishing a national franchise for telephone companies to offer Internet-protocol TV. The COPE Act does not address universal service or state regulation of wireless, although attempts on both of these issues were made during the meeting.
The bill now goes to the House floor for consideration.
The Senate Commerce Committee, which spent the winter holding hearings on telecommunications-reform topics, has yet to introduce its bill. However, this week Sen. Gordon Smith (R-Ore.) said he plans to introduce telecom reform legislation—dubbed the Broadband for America Act of 2006—which is meant to jumpstart discussion in the Senate by combining five already-introduced bills. One existing bill calls for using TV white spaces for unlicensed use; another allows municipalities to deploy their own broadband infrastructure; and a third would create a broadband-grant program using universal-service funds.
Support for Smith’s bill comes from combining the ideas of his Universal Service for the 21st Century Act, which he introduced along with Sen. Byron Dorgan (D-N.D.); the Wireless Innovation Act by Sen. George Allen (R-Va.); the Anti-Deficiency Act by Sen. Olympia Snowe (R-Maine); the Community Broadband Act by Sens. John McCain (R-Ariz.) and Frank Lautenberg (D-N.J.); and the Video Choice Act Smith introduced with Sen. Jay Rockefeller (D-W.V.).
Smith does not see his bill as a rival to one expected from Sen. Ted Stevens (R-Alaska), chairman of the Senate Commerce Committee, but stressed that his bill “draws on the best thinking of my colleagues.”
